Printing telegraph system



.April 26, 1932.

F. L. HENDERSON PR IN'I'I NG TELEGRAPH S YSTEM Filed NOV. 7, 1930 vINVENTOR FORESTLHENDERSON BY/CW ATTORNEY rP'atentecl Apr. 26, 1932UNH'E. STTES rA'rENTyoFi-ica FOREST L. HENDERSON, OF SOUND BEACH,CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TOv INTERNA- TIONAL COMIvTNICATIONS LABORATORIES,INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORA- TION 0F NEW YORK PRINTING TELEGRAPHSYSTEM Application filerl November 7, 1930. Serial No. 494,073.

rThis invention relates to priiiting telegraphs and has for itsprincipal object to provide an improved method of operating a p pageprinter by the contineiital cable code or other similar codes in whichthe characters are not of uniform length.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for feeding thepaperfrom line to line and for returning tlie carriage to the beginningof a line without sending special typewriter by an operator.

selecting signals for that purpose.

In transmitting a cablegrani, it is customary to prepare a tape havingthe message characters perforated in cable code. The perforated tape isrun through a transmitter and the message is received by means o f asiphoii recorder iii the form of a wavy line which is translated andtranscribed on a Sometimes for retransmission and other purposes, themessage inay be received by a receiving perforator which perforates aduplicate of the original transmitting tape. This invention discloses ainethod of operating an automatic page printer by such a perforatedtape, thus dispeiising with the receiving operator. One of theobjections to using a page printer on a cable has been that certainfunctions of a page printer, namely, the figure shift, the lettersignal, the line feed and carriage return, require special signals whichmust be used so frequently that the capacity of a cable for handlingtrailie is much reduced.

i; An ordinary cable message prepared for siphon recorderl receptiongenerally has but three extra characters; one designating the beginningof the message, a second before the signature, and a third indicatingthe end of the message. A message thus prepared is suitable for inanualtranscription at the receiving station or, if received by a receivingperforator, it may be printed automatically on a message blank by meansof the invention disclosed herein. The apparatus eniployed.

consists of a selecting system similar to that described in Patent No.1,529,873 to Creed which is modified-to operate an electric powei`driven typewriter.

The invention will now be described with the aid of the singleaccompanying drawing. i i The drawing shows a diagrammatic'perspectiveview of a selecting mechanism together with the carriage of an electrictype- Writer and relays and Circuits therefor. selecting mechanism is`controlled by a perforated'tape wliicli is yfed through a tape guide bya suitable feed mechanism. `,Under the tape guide are a number ofselector plates which are arranged' to be reciprocated by a The i.

suitable cam action, the extent of their travel being governed by theperforations or absence of perforations in the tape. Permutated discsset by the selector plates select printer stop bars which make contactwith segments on acontact drum, closing circuits' drum made ofinsulating material having segments 49 arranged about its periphery isset up in front of the bell crank ends so that a contact segment islined up under each of the bell crank ends.i The spacing rack frame camarmi 83 is extended as shown in the drawing and the end of the same isattached to a solenoid plunger which is free'V to allow the cam armmotion by moving up and down inside the solenoid 69. i i The invention ioperatesc asv follows:

I The operation` ofthe tape feed and select-- ing mehanism issubstantially the same as that described in the Creed patent referred toabove. A shaft l is constantly rotated by a motor (not shown).Once'eac'h revolution cam 2 engages roller3 on one end .of a lever 4which is pivoted at 5. The other. end ofthe i lever carries a rod 6which engages a depresassociatedtherewith is selected.

sion on the lower ends of each one of aseries of selector plates 7. Tenpairs of selector plates are generally used for cable code operation.When cam 2 engages 3 it causes rod 6 to withdraw the selector plate fromthe perforations on the tape '8. .After 21 passes under 3 the rodreleases the plates 7 which, under the influence of springs 9, pressagainst the tape. Where there are perforations above certain of theplates, accordingto the characters in the tape, those plates will risetheir maximum distance while the. remainder will be stopped b the tape.Each selector platehas a pair o lugs 10 which engages one end of aresetting lever 11 pivoted on a rod 12 whichissupportedby-thebifjureated arm of a carrier lever 13, the otherend ofeach lever 11 is. associated with an arml 14 of a permutated-disc orcomb1'5 which will be engaged thereby when the. particular selector plate Aseries of bell crank; shaped stop bars 16 is arranged about thepermutated discs, there being as many; barsas there; are keys on theelectric typewriten An endwise moving sleeve 23 for moving the stopbarsv 16of the selecting mechanism outpof; the notched discs 15 isactuatea at required times by the bifurcated arm 19 of a vlever 20-21mounted to turnabout a vertical axisat, 22' and the other arm 24 ofwhich is arranged'to be aotuated bya cam. 27 onv the cam shaft. The tapeis fed bymeans of a toothed wheel28 onispindle 45.. A pinion 30 Visdriven fronra feed rack31 arranged' below v out of engagementwith thepinion 30 is' efyee fectedby` a cam 32- on the cam shaft I actingthrough a lever and link mechanism l33'inde-v pendently'of thespringblade 34 used to reciprocate the rack: 31;

Associated with each pair of selector plates is a stop lever 35-36connected to a spring 37 thatacts normally to draw the arm 35 of.

the lever into the path of thefeed'rack 31 and to hold the other arm 36ofthe lever downwardfagainst the abutmentor lug 38` on one side of' eachof the yselect/or plates-of the pair.v Thearrangement issuch .that whenthe pin 39 on top of the plates passes'throsugfh a perforationin thetape, thel stop lever 35- 36 will bemoved outof'the pathof the feedrack,,but if both selector-plates ofthe pair are prevented from rising,owingtothe double blank portion at the end of a'letter, the stop,Vleverwill not beraisedVS and .thearm 35sthereof tape to pass throughsaid holes and lift the-V,

corresponding stop levers 35.-36 out of the path of feedrack 31.Thisrack issimultaneously disengaged from the pinion 30 by the link 44,lever 33 and the cam; 32. VThe rack is then moved backward by the springblade 34 until arrested by the stop lever 35-36 associated with thatpair of selector plates whose pins are* prevented, from rising by theblank section tape at the end of aletter.

Resetting levers 11 areset by the selectoi' plates 7, according'to theperforations of the character in the tapel 8 in the guide plate, andbrought into position to engage the arms 14; of permutated discs 15. Camis then in positionl to permit the upper end of cars rier lever 13to'move under the influence'of a spring (not shown) in the directionofthe arms 14 of the permutated discsl 15 which at this.v time are heldclear of all stop. bars 16.by sleeve23'and set the plates againstthetension of springs 57. The no tches of the discs will then lineup-'under. acertain stop bar which corresponds to the signalperforatedinthevtape. Cam 27 then causes lever 20-21 to move on itsaXisv 22`moving'sleeve 23V away from the stop bars 16 which. are thenpressed against-the. permutated discsby their springs 59. The bar underwhich the notches, are: aligned will drop lower than others. This baralone will.v make contact with`v a segment 49 on the, contact drum.:

Thiswillclose--the circuit from the positive' side of battery 50througha common conductor 51, through a key bar magnet 48, there being amagnet identical to magnet 48 vforeach typewriter key, through a contact49, stop arm 1.6,l through;v the left or spacing contact ofrelay to thenegative side of the battery, causing the armature 47 of themagnet 48tooperate a key ofthe typewriter.l

Allthe printingrfunctions of the typewriter are operatedin. the samemanner., The circuits closedby bell cranks 16 for non-printing functionsare somewhatdifferent. They are, however, selected in the sane mannerlas those for the. printing functions and,V are shown diagrammaticallyat the bottom. ofV

the, drawing in order that theymay be more easily` traced.V v iyVVhenthe word space is reached,, a bell crank '161 makes contact with asegment on the contact drum and' energizes the mag-;- net' attached tothe space bar through the tongue and left-hand-or spacing contact of'relay 63 which depresses the typewriter space bar. As the selectingmechanism feeds the tape along, the typewriter is actuated in thismanner for subsequent words and word spaces until the typewritercarriage in its 1movement towards the left makes contact by means of acontact strip 71 attached to the right-hand end of the typewritercarriage wth another strip 72 secured to but insulated from thetypewriter frame.

This completes a circuit through one of the I windings 85 of a relay 63which is biased to the spacing side and causes the tongue thereof tomove to the right-hand or marking side; then on the next word space,while contacts 71 and 72 are still in engagement with 'each other, asthe space bell crank 16 is op- .key of the typewriter, operating thesame,

through contact and tongue of relay 62, conductor 68 to negativebattery. At the same time relay 60 which is biased to the lefthand orspacing side and is connected in parallel with the carriage return keymagnet e8, will be operated. The operation of relay 60 completes acircuit through the solenoid 69 actuating its `plunger which pulls thespacing rack frame cam arm down, disenvgaging the spacing rack 31 andpinion 30. rThe result of this is that the slip is held in the guide-waywhile the carriage of the typewriter is returned to the right at thebeginning of a new line. At the same time the ,platen roller is rotatedby the typewriter mechanism to a new line. observation of relay 60 willdisclose that when the tongue is in its right-hand or marking position,battery 50 is cut off from all the stop bars. The purpose of this is toprevent the printing of any letters during the time the carriage isbeing returned to the right for the beginning of a new line. Thearmature of relay 63, having a spacing bias, returns to its spacing sidewhen the carriage contact 71 breaks contact with the right-hand contactstrip 72. The armature of relay 62 being unbiased, rests on the markingcontact 75 until the carriage is returned to the right and the lefthandcarriage contact 77 makes contact with the left-hand contact strip 78which is attached to, but insulated from the frame of the typewriter.

in the meantime, the selecting mechanism previously described has beenconstantly opcrating, though the feed mechanism has been temporarilydisabled by the operation of the solenoid 69 and the battery on the stopbars has been cut off1 by relay 60. As the -selecting mechanismcontinues its cycle of operations after contacts 77 and 78 have closed,

a contact 79 on lever 20-21 makes with the contact 80 which is mountedon a support fixed to the base of the printer and insulated therefrom.These contacts close at a fixed point in the selecting cycle and theirpurpose is to insure that the printing will resume,

at the proper place in the selecting cycle. when contacts 79 and 80 makethey complete a circuit through the spacing windings 81 and 82 of relays62 and 64 respectively. The tongue of relay 62 having previously been onits marking side now moves to spacing side which allows relay 60, whichwas locked in through the tongue of contacts 75 of relay 62, to returnto spacing, switching the battery back to the stop bars 16 andv breakingthe circuit holding solenoid 69, thus releasing the spacing rack framecam arm 33, and the feeding of the perforated slip and the printing' ofa new line is begun. i Assuming that there is a signature to th matterbeing printed, an extra signal is inserted between the body of-themessage and the signature. The particular stop bar 16 which is selectedby the signal makes contact aol with its contact segment 67 on the drumand closes a circuit from the negative side of batteryv 50 through thetongue and spacing contact of relay 60, conductor 76, bell crank 16,contact 67, marking coil 83 of relay 64, to the positive side of battery50. This moves armature of relay 64 to its marking contact'l 8%, and,the relay being unbiased, the tongue remains on the marking contact. Theoperation of relay 64: closes a circuit from battery 50,4 over conductor68, contact 84, coil 86 of ioo relay 63, conductor 51 to battery 50,thus overi I coming the spacing bias of relay 63 and holding the tonguethereof on its markingcontact 7 4.

After relay 63 is operated, the space signal which is perforated betweenthe signature and the special signal sent to indicate the signature,Will select the space stop bar which Will make with its contact 65 andcurrent will fi'ow from the negative side of battery 50 through thetongue and spacing contact of relay 60, stop bars 16 and contact 65,conductor 73, tongue and contact 74 of relay 63, coil 87 of relay 62,conductor 51 to battery 50. This will operate relay 62 which in turnwill operate the carriage return and line feed key of the typewriter inthe same manner as described previously in connection with the operationof this key by the co-operation of the space signal and contacts 71 and72. Nhen the carriage returns to the right, contacts 77 and 78 will makeagain and selecting and printing will automatically resume. i,

After the signature is printed the finish signal indicating the end ofthe message 'arrives in the guideway and the finish signal stop bar willbe selected, making with lits contact 66. This closes a circuit frombattery 50, tongue and spacing contact of relay 60,

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aositive side of batter Which Will 03- l y erate relayV 61V and itstongue Will remain on its marking contact 91 as the relay is -not'biased. VVhen the tongue of relay 61 is on its marking contact, thecarriage return magnet Will be operated by a circuit from thelfif'postive side of battery 50, conductor 51, carriage returnkey magnet48, contact 91 and tongue e f relay 61, conductor 68 to thenegativesidevof battery 50. The-relay is also held ope 1.ated byrelay 61by means of a cir- 152 cuit from the negative lside of battery 50,conductor 68, tongue and contact 91 of relay 61, ,coil of relay 60 tothe positive side of battery 50. The operation of relay 60 cuts oii-thebattery vfrom the stop bars 16 of the 20iselecting mechanism andoperates the solenoid 69, stopping the'feeding of thetape and the'printing as previously described.

When the ,new message blank has been inserted, the operator may depressboth levers 25". of the double vkey or switch 97. lContact 93 and'llever 94-'Will break and contact 96 and lever95 Will make, closing acircuit from the negative side of battery 50, conductor 68, I coil 88of-relay 61, contact 96 and lever 95, ificonductor 99 to contact 7 9Which will close and -make contact With 80 as the selector mechanism isactuated, and the'circuit continues through conductor 100, contacts 7 8and- 77, conductor 101, back to the'positive side ;of battery 50. Theclosing of the circuit just traced will operate coil 88 of relay 61, ireturning the -armature to the spacing side, thus releasing the carriagereturn magnet 48. :Batteryalso Willbe cut ofl from relay 60 and thetongue thereof Will make with its yspacing contact, restoring battery tothe selector stop arms 16 and releasing the solenoid 69, Which Willpermit the'tape feeding and printing mechanism to resume opera- 55"tion.

vThereafter, the operation of the printing, selecting, carriage returnand line feed mechanism 'is entirely automatic until another message iscompleted. v v

What is claimed is:

1. In a telegraph printer, a movable carriage having a rotatable platen,means for rotating said platen, means including Word space meansselectable according to the various characters of a telegraph codearranged toV advance said carriage from an initial position, andmeansfor restoring said carriage to its initial position, said Word spacemeans being a means for initiating the operation of said' platenrotatingmeans and said restoringmeans.

2. In a page printer, mechanism for printing selected characters, meansfor spacing said characters,, a movable member arranged 65. tobeadvancedasthecharacters are printed,

means forrestoring said movable member to itsinitial position, saidcharacter spacing means and said movable member being arranged tooperate, said restoring means after said movable member has advanced apredetermined distance.

3. In a printing`device,'a movable carriage having a rotatable platen,means for rotating said'platen, means including Word .space meansselectable according to the various characters of a telegraph codearranged to advance said carriage from an initial position, and meansforrestoring said carriage to its initial position from any pointthereafter, said Word space means being a means for initiating theoperation of said platen rotating means and said restoring means.

Ll. ln a printing device, a movable carriage having a rotatable platen,means for rotating said platen, means including Word space meansselectable accordingl to the various characters of a telegraph codearranged toV advance said carriage from an initial position, and meansfor restoringsaid carriage to its initial position and feeding a newline only When a Word has been completed at the end of the previousline.

ln a printing device, a novable carriage having a rot-atable platen,means for rotating said platen, means for advancing said carriagecontinuously from an initial position, means for restoring said carriageto said position, and means'responsive toV received Word space signalsVfor operating said platen rotating .means and said carriage restoringmeans. i

6. 'In a printing device, a movable carriage having a rotatable platen,means for rotating said platen, means for advancing said carriagecontinuouslyv from an initial position, printing means effective duringthe ado vance of said carriage, means for restoring said carriage toinitial position, means .effective While said carriage is being restoredfor rendering said printing means inoperative, and meansfor renderingsaidprint-ing means operative only upon the return of said carriage toinitial position.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name 'this 3rd day ofNovember, 1930.

FOREST L. HENDERSON.

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